Citing considerations about animal welfare and product quality, six upscale restaurants here signed on as “Certified Humane” establishments. That designation of the national nonprofit organization Humane Farm Animal Care indicates operations that exclusively serve meat, poultry, egg and dairy products from humane-certified suppliers.
Those additions bring to 12 the number of restaurants to receive humane certification, up from just one restaurant a year ago. The six New York restaurants are Fifty Seven Fifty Seven at the Four Seasons Hotel, Sapa, Yumcha, The Tasting Room, Sumile and 5 Ninth.
The “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” label specifies that products have been produced according to the standards for humane farm animal treatment developed by Humane Farm Animal Care.
The “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” label, introduced in May 2003, specifies that meat, poultry, egg and dairy products have been produced according to HFAC’s standards for humane farm animal treatment. Animals must receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and must be raised with shelter, resting areas and space sufficient to support natural behavior.
Twenty-six producers of beef, lamb, dairy products, pigs, sheep, chickens, eggs and turkeys now are designated to use the certified-humane label, up from 16 producers a year ago, according to Adele Douglass, executive director of the Herndon, Va.-based HFAC. Five more producers are expected to receive certification within weeks, she said.
“It’s important for chefs to start making a stand on how farm animals are raised,” said Brooke Vosika, executive chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. “Sustainable, organic and humanely raised products are the wave of the future.”
Vosika is serving certified-humane products in the Four Seasons’ fine-dining outlet, Fifty Seven Fifty Seven, but not in the hotel’s other restaurants because of their higher cost, he said.
At the 70-seat restaurant, which generates a $56-per-person check average at dinner, Vosika said “customers are interested in how these [animal] products were raised. Customers inquire about organic, cage-free and naturally raised.”
Vosika lists suppliers’ names on the menu but does not specify the restaurant’s humane-certified status.
For Patricia Yeo, executive chef at Sapa, the 160-seat French-Vietnamese restaurant in New York, using humane-certified products is more a matter of quality than ideology. “I just started using the eggs, and it is amazing what a difference there is,” Yeo said. “The eggs are richer and sweeter.”
Sapa’s per-person check average at dinner is $55.
Yeo already was using several HFAC-approved suppliers for chicken and lamb, so making the switch for remaining purveyors was not difficult, she said.
While the cost of certified-humane products runs 10 percent to 15 percent higher than the cost of conventionally raised products, “the quality is better, so I have less trimmings,” she said.
Yeo has opted not to use the certified-humane labels on her menu and also does not specify suppliers on the menu. “Customers don’t ask, and they don’t care where the chicken is from as long as it’s good,” she said.
Additional restaurants that have been designated humane-certified include Equinox, Marcel’s, Tosca and Melrose, all in Washington D.C.; Hunter’s Head in Upperville, Va.; and Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va.
Restaurant participation in the Certified Humane program is free, but producers are required to complete a 20-page application, pay an inspection fee and make the farm’s records available to HFAC’s inspectors. Producer compliance with HFAC standards is verified through on-site inspections conducted annually by HFAC’s third-party inspectors.
HFAC is backed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of the United States and regional animal-protection organizations.
Restaurant News : Poor Henny Penny
Posted: July 1, 2005 by Certified Humane
Citing considerations about animal welfare and product quality, six upscale restaurants here signed on as “Certified Humane” establishments. That designation of the national nonprofit organization Humane Farm Animal Care indicates operations that exclusively serve meat, poultry, egg and dairy products from humane-certified suppliers.
Those additions bring to 12 the number of restaurants to receive humane certification, up from just one restaurant a year ago. The six New York restaurants are Fifty Seven Fifty Seven at the Four Seasons Hotel, Sapa, Yumcha, The Tasting Room, Sumile and 5 Ninth.
The “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” label specifies that products have been produced according to the standards for humane farm animal treatment developed by Humane Farm Animal Care.
The “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” label, introduced in May 2003, specifies that meat, poultry, egg and dairy products have been produced according to HFAC’s standards for humane farm animal treatment. Animals must receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones and must be raised with shelter, resting areas and space sufficient to support natural behavior.
Twenty-six producers of beef, lamb, dairy products, pigs, sheep, chickens, eggs and turkeys now are designated to use the certified-humane label, up from 16 producers a year ago, according to Adele Douglass, executive director of the Herndon, Va.-based HFAC. Five more producers are expected to receive certification within weeks, she said.
“It’s important for chefs to start making a stand on how farm animals are raised,” said Brooke Vosika, executive chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in New York. “Sustainable, organic and humanely raised products are the wave of the future.”
Vosika is serving certified-humane products in the Four Seasons’ fine-dining outlet, Fifty Seven Fifty Seven, but not in the hotel’s other restaurants because of their higher cost, he said.
At the 70-seat restaurant, which generates a $56-per-person check average at dinner, Vosika said “customers are interested in how these [animal] products were raised. Customers inquire about organic, cage-free and naturally raised.”
Vosika lists suppliers’ names on the menu but does not specify the restaurant’s humane-certified status.
For Patricia Yeo, executive chef at Sapa, the 160-seat French-Vietnamese restaurant in New York, using humane-certified products is more a matter of quality than ideology. “I just started using the eggs, and it is amazing what a difference there is,” Yeo said. “The eggs are richer and sweeter.”
Sapa’s per-person check average at dinner is $55.
Yeo already was using several HFAC-approved suppliers for chicken and lamb, so making the switch for remaining purveyors was not difficult, she said.
While the cost of certified-humane products runs 10 percent to 15 percent higher than the cost of conventionally raised products, “the quality is better, so I have less trimmings,” she said.
Yeo has opted not to use the certified-humane labels on her menu and also does not specify suppliers on the menu. “Customers don’t ask, and they don’t care where the chicken is from as long as it’s good,” she said.
Additional restaurants that have been designated humane-certified include Equinox, Marcel’s, Tosca and Melrose, all in Washington D.C.; Hunter’s Head in Upperville, Va.; and Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va.
Restaurant participation in the Certified Humane program is free, but producers are required to complete a 20-page application, pay an inspection fee and make the farm’s records available to HFAC’s inspectors. Producer compliance with HFAC standards is verified through on-site inspections conducted annually by HFAC’s third-party inspectors.
HFAC is backed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of the United States and regional animal-protection organizations.
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